FROZEN IN TIME

While the Garden Conservancy is well known in the United States for its work to preserve notable American gardens, few may know its part in the story of Aberglasney, an ancient estate in western Wales. The property dates to the mid-1500s, though its house and gardens were chiefly designed in the early 1600s. The following centuries saw various owners come and go (usually by death), with most updating the mansion to the standards of their time; however, through the decades the gardens were left mostly alone. In the early 1900s the home was vacated and the property began a downward spiral marked by decay and vandalization.

Aberglasney’s plight was highlighted in the early 1990s, when its Victorian